Terumina zeruda no monogatari
by AmberKendsLacy
Summary: Three days of my life are clouded in my mind, the consistency of them warping and twisting in places where it shouldn't. But three things that remained constant, the images that remained with me, were those of the boy clad in green, the imp in the mask, and the cursed moon, crashing towards us all.
1. Prolouge part 1

Prologue

* * *

It started the day my life ended, a few years before the moon started its descent on the world below.

The strange imp in the mask just dropped out of the sky that day, the dead rising with him to fight old wars long forgotten. The people in the kingdom screamed as the dead came for them, the children cried as the parents and adults were slaughtered. I was watching from the highest window in the palace of my world, clutching what was left to represent the power I once had in my hand, a snapped crown, which was broken during my attempt to fight. The guards, as soon as they noticed my contribution to the fight, locked me away to the safest degree they could manage at the time. Disapproval of my contribution came not only for the fact that I was a woman, but the last left alive in the royal line.

"Ikana still lives in your veins your majesty; you must survive so we still do, even in death."

That was the last I heard from anyone when I tried to argue that I was needed to save Ikana, before the door that was meant to protect me from the onslaught of the army of dead slammed in my face. Then not a moment later screams of pain and agony were heard before silence and groans of the dead. Ever since then I had been left to try and find a way out of this room that essentially went from being my safety, to my cage. The sturdy door did keep the enemies out, for the few extra moments at least as I looked everywhere I could before eventually finding a board covered window. However, after pulling the nailed boards down from the supposed other example of escape, I wished immediately that I hadn't. So that was where I was at that moment, staring horrified at the only world I had ever known below as it was quickly swept away to death and dust.

Moisture pricked at the edges of my eyes as the breath I let was caught in my throat, but I shook it all off in order to try and remain strong in the face of this event. I had to find a way out, not only of this room but of Ikana as well if I were to survive like I was needed to. Now where was that escape? My eyes scanned the ground below, the now loud banging of the door behind me only reminding me further that time was not on my side, not that it had been by me since the sun rose on this terrible day.

I could not give in, that was one of the very first of the laws of the Garo, the guards that had been protecting me so far from this attack. I had to be brave like them and not give in, so I scanned everything I could see out the window once again. My eyes, at the first look, had skimmed it over, but now that I was paying more attention and trying much harder to keep myself calm, I managed to see it at the second glance. Of course… It would work, it had to. Other than that, there would be no other way.

A loud crash interrupted me once again, but this time when I looked back I did not fail to see the large door now shattered all over the floor, and soldiers for the army of the dead shuffling forwards. My hand rested briefly on the blade in my belt, but I knew better than to attack the dead, as one cannot die twice, therefore fighting them will only end in death. I backed up against the window as the dead continued to shuffle in, steadying myself as I climbed up on the sill of the window, looking back for only a moment to the dead, my words evened and tough, despite how weak and grieved I felt inside.

"You want to have the war torn and barren earth that was once Ikana for your own, then have it. But you cannot have the culture, the spirit that still lives within me. You will not have me."

I threw my broken crown at them, a symbol of simply discarding the last of my power, before jumping out of the window and onto the ground below, not pausing for a moment after landing on the dead earth as I continued to run, feeling more than just the dead slowly chasing after me. I refused to tire, to stop as the creatures that stood in my way were cut down as fast as I could as I went on. Eventually I reached the place that could let me escape, and for some reason turned back to see what else I could feel was following me. And what I saw was definitely not what I expected.

It was not a soldier, not an undead, or even a lone civilian that managed to also survive the attack.

It was the **imp.**

_(You're alone like me, but for some reason I can't let it go... I can't accept to forgive)_

"My army's better than yours," It was **mocking **me, laughing at my loss, stinging my grief like salt in the wounds. The childish tilt of its head, the laughter it produced after it had spoke those words, it was almost as if it believed this was all a game. It sickened me at the same time it brought fear, fear that it was not taking this seriously, therefore not caring even in the slightest that it had destroyed the only world I ever knew, a prosperous world, just healing from ongoing war and death. The worst part being that the dead of this army was the very dead that died for this prosperous future, with anger and sealed regrets against it. Now it was all over, Ikana the land was destroyed, torn apart by itself and the dead. The war was over, and had been for many, many years, but try telling that to the departed that were walking once more.

"You lose,"

Suddenly the army turned from their random shuffling, and started to advance onward to where I was, causing me to step back more and more, looking behind me the whole time as I watched the escape getting closer and closer with every stumbling step. The imp was watching me as I backed away further and further, and it was at this point was the time that I noticed what frightened me the most about this strange overpowered creature, was the eyes that constantly stared at me from the creature's mask.

That mask…

_(The laughter and the eyes, they always follow me, always… in my nightmares and waking moments, always…)_

The departed were closing in, from all sides, moaning and dragging themselves closer towards me. I looked some of them in the eyes as I got ready to do what I wanted to do. In their eyes I could see only hared from disputes long buried and forgotten. So back in the past were these disputes, which I had a feeling that they didn't even know what the disputes were about, all that was left was the anger. I wondered if I would ever be that way, caught up in anger so deep that I forget the reasons behind it. No, I never wanted to end that way, otherwise our way of life will never have changed, and then it would truly be lost forever.

So I had to escape now, but of course not before looking up at the imp, a look of remembrance in my eyes as I got closer and closer to the escape. I would not forget this, but I would not let it control me either. Its time would come, and I would be there to reap the benefits like it did my homeland. My feet stopped, and I looked up at the army and surprised them (I hoped anyway) by smiling thinly to them. Then I spoke, and hoped that these words would not be my last, not to this world, and certainly not to this creature that had brought such destruction. This was only the beginning.

"No, you lose, for now."

I let myself fall backwards, and continued to fall for some time, before the canyon finally stopped into the running river below.

My only escape.

* * *

_(Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,)_

It was like a thin layer above me, of warped blue glass, looking up at the world above as the only home I knew passed away from me, the water taking me away of that place, and taking me to a new one. It wasn't dragging me, forcing me along, for I was too tired to fight it, even if I wanted to. The water surrounded me, and for some reason I didn't feel the burning need to breath for some time, all I did was look up at the surface and watch the world pass me by. I wondered for a while if I was actually dead, mostly because of the lack of before mentioned need to breath. But that burning sensation still arrived after a time, and I was lifted above, through the almost glass like surface, and breathed in the air.

My breath was chocked by a sudden sob; as such a weight was in my heart and throat, a swelling of emotions, that I was surprised I didn't lower back under the surface for being too heavy. If there were any tears, they leaked out and fell into the water, just more liquid to be unnoticed as it seemed this river, were the tears of Ikana for being torn apart once more, just when it seemed likely that it could heal at last. I felt weightless, but at the same time weighted with sadness for what I had lost as I continued to float along, looking up at the sky. Not much time had actually passed since I fell into the river and where I was now, though it felt like an eternity.

The fall from the waterfall not that far away however, was quick, maybe because it was somewhat unexpected. I knew it was there of course, this river being really the only connection from Ikana to one other place altogether. It had interested me when I was younger, and I had attempted more than once to look it over, only to be caught at the last minute and brought back to the castle to be told off for my carelessness. Now, I guessed I'd finally got to see if all my curiosity was warranted. The familiar heat of the sun was first blocked by the shade of a tunnel, before the bright world eclipsed altogether into complete darkness as the tunnel went on.

I only got a moment to steady myself before the fall, squeezing my eyes shut as the sensation of weightlessness began and ended in nearly a second.

The world never stopped growing dark, even when I hit the ground.

* * *

**Please review, constructive criticism always welcome.**


	2. Prolouge part 2

Prologue part 2

* * *

_The world never stopped growing dark, even when I hit the ground. _

_But a sense of consciousness remained, the sense that somehow knew that I was being dragged away somewhere, that my prone form had been discovered by someone, something…_

_There was a need to fight the someone, since there really weren't any chances, since I couldn't actually physically see that this someone could be _**him or rather, it**_. At that thought, I also wanted to run, but the need meant nothing when I wasn't able to move. The sensation of being dragged eventually ended, and instead I got the odd sensation of strong spices being shoved under my nose. And strangely in response I managed to find strength to move my hand, trying to wave the stench of the spices away from my face. _

_Voices flow out from the silence and blackness of my still closed eyes, and I listened intently with all the concentration I could harness at one time…_

* * *

"Look sister, it's waking up!"

"The girl was never asleep to begin with, just shocked to a momentary unmovable state sister, try giving her some water,"

Freezing cold liquid splashed across my face, and despite the verbal reference to it before hand, I was still surprised by it to open my eyes, needing to blink several times before the world around me restored back into focus, the blurriness of it all revealing in the meantime two hunched figures peering back at me with big eyes. When focus of sight returned, it became obvious to me that wherever I was, I was apparently lying down on some sort of bed inside a home and surrounded by the smell of other spices, not as strong as the ones held under my face before, but instead hinted in the air that I breathed, and coughed on rather violently not a moment later.

"I said give her the water sister, not drown her with it!"

My hand suddenly moved to push away the source of water, getting myself to also sit up as well. My sight finally fixing to normal again, though really the final results weren't that different from the blurred version. It was obvious now that I was in some kind of hut, the two hunched figures turning out to be two old women, and in using the description of old, means that they looked ready to crumble to dust at some point but for some reason were still together and moving around with the energy of younger people. I got ready to say something, though of course I wasn't sure where to start. Thankfully though there weren't any words I got to say as instead my stomach growled rather loudly.

This only seemed to amuse the two women, one of them moving away to a corner of the room whilst the other stayed by me, watching me carefully as I coughed a few more times. The other just smirked as she watched my near every move. It was certainly creepy, but I found that it would be better that they were helping me with creepy stares than actually attempting to kill me or handing me over to the **imp. **But still, I reasoned with myself, that I wasn't sure of what their attentions were just yet, so I tried to be better on guard for whatever they were going to or were trying to do.

"Here girl, it will make you stronger," The old woman walked back next to her sister, holding a glass bottle filled with what I knew was healing potion. She held out the medicine for me to take, but I notably held myself back, not ready to trust such strangers enough to just accept whatever they were freely handing me. They noticed of course, and the old woman placed it to the side table next to the bed I had been lying on. While they were busying themselves with this, I began t feel that the situation had really grown sour and my hand quickly snuck to the pouch on my belt where I hoped that the dagger I had always kept on my person would still be there. But of course the old witches must have seen this coming, since the pouch was empty.

"We are not going to attack or poison you girl, we took the dagger for your own good and you're going to get it back when you leave. We are simple people of the swamp and-"

"Swamp?" My throat stung when I talked, but then again I had apparently fallen more than quite a bit and hurt myself, the injury of my voice should be on the last of my list. They looked a slight bit miffed at the fact that I interrupted, but all the same they answered the one worded question. Before this point where I interrupted though, I had been watching their movements very carefully, remembering the lessons from the Garo when I was younger, knowing that the smallest gestures and facial tweaks could tell if a person was lying or not, and eventually I had to relent that they either were very good lying old witch swamp women, or they were of course telling the truth and were obviously annoyed by my suspicions.

"You're in the Southern Swamp and fell from the waterfall not far from our home. Speaking of, might we ask who you are, where you are from and how you got here?"

As said before I had judged these women as truthful, so I decided to return the gesture and answered their question. Whilst talking to them of my place in the world and the situation that had arisen for me, I gestured if the offer of the health potion was still on the table, and was greeted with a quick nod from one of the old women. I finished my explanation before drinking the potion, and the women obviously now had the expression that they weren't sure to believe me, but all the same I got the feeling that a part of them didn't truly care all that much since they knew they were telling the truth, and that I believed them.

The red potion tasted mainly of cinnamon and other indefinable tasting spices, but otherwise it was watery and yet at the same time, very filling. I got the familiar feeling of the wounds on both the inside and out of me healing up at a fast rate, and my full strength had finally returned to me after my apparently a more injury generating fall than I had previously believed. I breathed much easier once the red liquid of the bottle had been all drunken down. Placing the now empty bottle back on the side table, I looked back to the old women and spoke in a now much stronger voice than before.

"You don't have to believe me, but I thank you for the assistance you have given me. I ask only one more thing, if you have anything that can hide my face from sight. I am not really certain if the imp I have told you about is still looking for me, but either way I'd like t be sure," One of the old women looked to her sister, and she nodded in answer to an apparently silent query before walking off to fetch something else from within the home they lived in. She returned this time with a small wrapped bundle and my dagger in her hands, her voice a little lower in pitch as she handed it to me.

"This mask will do well to cover your face; it's a favorite amongst children so you won't look suspicious when you wear it. It used to belong to our son when he was a child," whilst placing the dagger back in its pouch noticed that the mask did indeed it did seem like a mask that children would enjoy, in fact I remembered seeing children of Ikana wearing ones like this when playing. It was the face of the mystical creature the Kitsune, a yellow fox with black tipped ears. Looking around the small house, I noted that there was no child in sight, nor other objects in the home that would result in the answer that three people lived here, therefore adding to an obvious answer on where he was. I spoke a little softer like the old woman did when I asked the next query.

"May I ask?"

"He went out to the moors one early morning to play when the monsoon was starting and that year was particularly vicious. He… never returned."

Immediately I felt terrible for clearly taking what had to be the last of their lost son's belongings, and tried to hand it back to them whilst apologizing for my ignorance in the matter. However one of the women stopped me, her aging hand gently touching the one I was using to hand the mask back as she shook her tired head. In that moment there seemed to be a opening of reality, that they were now acting as old as they looked, tired and tried by the world one too many times to hold on much longer. She spoke a little softer than before, but all the same I listened very carefully to her words.

"No please, we really insist. Our son Gannon died so many, many years ago, but still after all that time… I cannot bring myself to look at this mask, it has done nothing but bring back so many horrid memories of when we… found him, and it has sucked all the good memories from the years we spent with him. Taking this from us is more a blessing to the both of us than a curse and we would be as grateful as you are to us for assisting you," I eventually nodded, and held onto the yellow mask, standing quickly from the bed as I got ready to leave the home. I wanted to leave very quickly since I already felt as though I had been a thorn in their side for long enough, made only worse by the fact that I had apparently brought back only horrible memories for them.

"I will leave you now, thank you for your help and… I'm sorry."

Neither said anything as I left the home, placing the mask over my features before opening the door.

_I'm hidden from the world now, my true self hidden by disguise._

_It's better this way._

* * *

It took some time before I eventually found my way out of the Southern Swamp, some creatures that had seemingly spawned from the murky waters itself needing to be battled before I made my way to the open traveling fields of Termina. Of course there were enemies there too and I was all too happy to rid myself of their nuisance as I continued on, not really sure of my destination until the structured walls of the further off city of Clock Town caught my eye and I started making a beeline for it, collecting whatever rupees and such from the enemies I slew as I walked.

Truthfully, I myself had never been to the city that for some reason was named town, but I once knew of people in Ikana that gone there during what they called the moon festivals. Apparently it was meant to be quite the hustling and bustling place filled with many different races of Termina as they lived in harmony in the center of our world. And truly, I noted to myself as I walked through one of the four main gate entrances to the Clock Town, that the description fit the real deal. It was a difficulty to walk through the North Clock Town Square and the West's shops with all the people, but all the same I managed it and ducked and ran when necessary. Eventually after a while of getting lost in so many different places and many shop sellers trying to con the rupees from my pouch, I found my way to an inn, and entered quickly before the crowds could drag me away.

_Stock Pot Inn_

The man and woman that had been serving at the desk, their names being Anju and Kafei if I remembered correctly, was very helpful when directing me to where it was I inquiring to go. Since not only where the people of Ikana avid celebrators, they had been very curious at times too, and told me of stories of a Great Fairy living somewhere in the city, only to be found by children or those in need. Kafei must have thought me some simple tourist investigating a myth, but all the same his apparent girlfriend (as proven by their close proximity and little glances they threw each other when they thought no one was looking) gave me the directions and I thanked them both in payment before leaving.

Moving quickly so as to still be swept away in the crowds and constant sellers trying to con me, I made it to the practically, in relation to the other parts of the city, deserted by the people apart from the children as they played across the apparent park, sliding down the slides and such. One or two of the children noticed me as I walked past, either leaving me alone after seeing the knife pouch, or just still watching before eventually saying something. There was only one child that really came up and directly talked to me, but all the same I was glad for it since I figured the Guard watching all the children by the entrance gate wouldn't have appreciated nor not seen any suspicion in someone much older than a child in a children's mask talking to children, and having a knife on their person.

"That's a cool mask, but I've seen a real Kitsune," he said, obviously very proud himself in the fact that he was the only one to talk to a very creepy looking adult, despite how crazy that actually sounded, because that was what it was. Deciding that it was better to amuse him than point out the fact that Kitsunes weren't real, I answered back with a question since I wasn't going to lie, but I was sort of stuck in where the Great Fairy was fabled to be, since apparently myself and Anju only knew that it was here somewhere.

"Really? You won't happen to have seen the Great Fairy too?"

"Yeah sure, she lives right over there," The child immediately pointed to a small cave opening on the other side of the play ground that was hidden behind quite a few bushes that adults of the town would apparently be too busy to notice such things, just like I had done. I thanked the child and walked towards the hidden cave opening, a little anxious to go through the darkened cavern if I wanted to admit it others than myself, but all the same I went in, since I had come this far, and all I wanted to do was ask some simple questions.

_Where do I go now? What do I do with myself?_

_What use am I now?_

The cavern was very deep, and for a little while after I had walked quite a bit through it, I wondered if the child had been intentionally lying to me and was ready to turn back and give up, when suddenly my mask covered eye suddenly caught a light at the end that I was certain hadn't been there before. So I walked on, the light growing brighter and brighter until it eventually chased away the natural darkness of the cavern- or apparent- tunnel until it eventually showed what was causing that light on the other side of the tunnel. It was a fountain, made of the most shining bricks and glittering water that I had ever seen.

Quiet was all that fell over the perfect fountain when I entered, mesmerized by the almost perfect sight of it all too really talk. But the quiet didn't last for very long as the moment my foot touch the white sand of the floor that had the clean water lapping at the edges, I heard a sudden shriek of women's laughter. I stepped back, surprised and on guard again. Out from seemingly the center of the fountain was the sight of what had to be the Great Fairy, who certainly looked nothing like what the myths and legends described her as, and in fact the sight of her freaked me out on a level that I knew I would hide for politeness sake.

"_You're something that I don't see usually, hiding your face from sight."_

I guessed from the wording used that she was probably not going to help me or answer any question I posed to her as long as I wore the mask and hid who I was from her. I sighed a little inside at the whole situation; I eventually took the mask off, and looked back up to the Great Fairy with now uncovered eyes. After I took the mask off there was a moment on tension filled silence, and I wondered what would be said next before the Great Fairy broke the quiet with her laughter, which in this moment was softer and more mocking than last time.

"_Well, one of Ikana. You're very far from your home aren't you?"_

"My home is long gone; Ikana fell not more than a few days ago," The sadness still seemed to stick in my voice as I thought over that fact again. It was gone, all gone and never coming back. Such a large scaled event, it was still seemingly taking time to gather this together and finally accept it all. The Great Fairy meanwhile, looked a little more guilty and regretful in her words, but all the same there really wasn't nay taking it back at this point, so it was better to just swallow the bitter pill and continue on like I had been doing for the past few days. Another gathering of now awkward silence was broken since I wanted nothing more now than the answers to my questions, and certainly the last thing I needed was her pity of all things.

"Where do I go now? What is the goddesses' plan for me from now on?"

Another moment, then I quickly noticed that the once clear water of the fountain had now turned a brighter and cloudier blue, the water starting to ripple from where she was floating apart it while her eyes themselves also became clouded, but a brighter white than the shining bricks on the walls around them. Her voice changed drastically after this, The Great Witch's voice echoing the fountain and tunnel behind us so much it was hard to tell when they were first asked, but all the same I managed to understand it all the same and answer just as easily.

"_And why should the goddesses assist a lowly, fallen royal of the Ikanas? An ending like this is exactly what a god insulting race deserves, such a thing is everything your kind deserves for the slander of a temple you built against us," _I knew now that this was not the voice of the Great Fairy herself anymore, but a representative of, or the actual voice of, one of the goddesses themselves. I felt my mouth go a little dry as I thought over how to answer, before eventually finding the one answer that would concern them more than the plight of my fallen people that had apparently in the past desecrated their godhood.

"If the **imp** is allowed to go unpunished, it is unlikely that he is going to just stop at Ikana and no further. In fact, Ikana and all its strongholds was an easy victory to him, how long will the rest of Termina last in his attacks?" That got their attention and mulled apparently to themselves for a while. The thought of the **imp **attacking the rest of Termina hadn't occurred to me until just at this moment, but all the same it didn't make it any less of a terrible thought than it was. Apparently the goddesses that were talking through the Great Fairy seemed to agree with that thought when they spoke up again, what they were now informing me of making the terrible thought a reality.

"_The Four Giants that are meant to protect this land from such dangers… are still sleeping and cannot be awakened at this time."_

"So there is nothing that can be done? Termina is defenseless?"

"_Not exactly… There is still is one more hope that can be delivered to this land… And you will assist them."_

"What must I do?"

The fountain cave grew darker very quickly, in fact the only reason that I could only still see the form of the Great Fairy because the once blue clouded water was starting to glow a brighter light just as the rest of the room grew eerily dark. The Great Fairy's head twisted upwards for a moment, which was a rather frightening sight in the circumstances, but it only got worse when the woman's head lowered again, the features a little more than just different now. She spoke again, her voice even deeper than before, in fact it starting to sound closer to a man's voice than the softer, feministic tones of the goddesses that all of Termina had grown to expect.

_The seasons will turn thrice before Termina is to be saved. You will go back to the Swamp Lands during this time, and wait for the Hero from another land, who will be clad in green. He will seem unlikely to your expectations of him, but follow him nevertheless wherever he goes. For he is the Hero of Time and will save all of Termina from the most horrible of fates. _

"I…I understand and will obey…thank you,"

The fountain returned to its original sight and the Great Fairy disappeared back into the water. I watched the now silent fountain for a little while, still trying to comprehend what had actually happened, then taking a deep breath and turning away to walk back out again. Waiting for three years, it seemed like it would be forever until finally this so called 'Hero' was going to finally arrive and save the land. Part of me felt a little regretful in stepping myself forward to assist this hero, since my own home was now gone and I knew that well enough (though accepting it still hadn't seemed to happen). But all the same I was apparently involved now whether I liked it or not and just had to accept that this was how it was going to be for three years.

And so I left the Great Fairy's cave again, and started my walk back to the Southern Swamp, where I now would stay for the next three years, and wait for the hero that would save Termina.

Let the wait begin.

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**Please review, constructive criticism always welcome. **


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